$199 VO mic sounds better than U87 Ai? Warm Audio WA 87jr SE

Our sound and lighting courses can be found at https://school.learnlightandsound.com! In this week's episode we take a look at the Warm Audio WA 87jr SE microphone and test it against the classic Neumann U87 as well as the RODE NT-1 5th Generation. How will they measure up to each other? Can this $200 USD microphone hold a flame to the beloved $2,000 Neumann? Which one turns out to be Curtis' new favorite?! Let's find out! If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. Our latest courses cover Sound for Live Streaming with the ATEM Mini and an Intro to Izotope RX. See https://school.learnlightandsound.com for more info! Support my work creating videos by donating at Ko-Fi.com: http://ko-fi.com/curtisjudd Gear used or mentioned in this episode (the links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases): Warm Audio WA-87jr Studio Essential microphone — https://geni.us/UZu8D Warm Audio WA-87jr microphone — https://geni.us/RP1alT Warm Audio WA-87 r2 microphone — https://geni.us/3dTuBp Neumann U87Ai large diaphragm condenser mic — https://geni.us/phYZH Sound Devices MixPre-3 II audio recorder — https://geni.us/O8e0 Sennheiser MKH50 microphone — https://geni.us/iYb065 Impact Turtle-Base C-Stands — https://geni.us/8a8tt Aputure Light Dome III Softbox — https://geni.us/AVHU1p Rosco Prismatic Glass Gobo in Cool Lavender — https://geni.us/GWKt Canon C70 Cinema Camera — https://geni.us/ABYB Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8 lens — https://geni.us/qwsEs Panasonic GH5 camera — https://geni.us/InspOl Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 II lens — https://geni.us/gr47 The outro music for this episode is from Musicbed - “Dynamo” by Virgil Arles. Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself: https://geni.us/G7by Copyright 2025, Curtis Judd #warmaudio #neumannmicrophones #recording Index 00:00 Please buy my courses 00:07 Full disclosure 00:34 Context for comparison 01:00 Sound samples 01:27 Specs 04:15 FET vs transformers 05:08 Additional samples 07:18 Noise floor test 07:45 Build quality 08:12 My take 09:50 Con(s) 10:52 Please buy my courses